MOORESTOWN, NJ — Several residents vocally opposed plans to move the Moorestown School District’s bus depot to Moorestown Upper Elementary School, which could be on the ballot in an upcoming bond referendum.
Moorestown school administrators have floated putting the district’s bus yard in the field behind the Upper Elementary School (UES). The district currently keeps its buses at a Moorestown High School parking lot.
But several residents who live near the UES field expressed concerns about health impacts, traffic and eliminating space for kids to play outside at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.
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“I just think it’s an inappropriate location near the school,” said Amy Kearney, who lives near UES. “I think it’s an inappropriate location near residents. And I strongly urge you to find a different location.”
Interim Superintendent Joe Bollendorf called it “critical” for the bus yard to leave the high school. But the district is working with township officials to find a place to store buses that isn’t at a school.
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It comes as the district reaches the pivotal stages of planning the bond referendum, which is tentatively scheduled for March 11. To hold a vote on that date, the district must finalize which projects will be on the ballot by Jan. 11 — 60 days before the vote.
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A successful bond referendum is the only way for New Jersey school districts to get some state funding for facility upgrades. The Moorestown district is still waiting for state officials to determine how much of each proposed project they would fund — a critical component for officials to determine which projects residents will vote on in a referendum.
If school officials decide to put the bus yard elsewhere, that could push the referendum to a later date.
“Nobody disagrees that putting it at another school would not be the ideal setting,” Bollendorf said. “Having it elsewhere in the community would be ideal, and we are exploring that. So we are doing our due diligence. And if it winds up going there, it’s going to go there as a result of not being able to find another place.”
Changes To UES Field
Under the district’s plans, the district would create a fenced bus yard in what is currently the back-left corner of UES’s field. It would store up to 18 full-sized buses, a dozen small buses and a caravan.
Here’s a current bird’s eye view of the school for comparison:
UES currently has a wide-open field in back of the school, right by several residents’ backyards. One of those residents, Dave Clark, said Tuesday that he wants the field to remain intact.
“When I walk my dog and say, ‘the kids are playing,’ he perks his ears and looks out in the field,” Clark said. “All the kids at UES during recess use that field.”
A few local residents also expressed concerns about exposing young children to diesel fumes. But Bollendorf says the district expects to replace all of its diesel buses with gas vehicles over the next three years — likely before the new bus depot would be completed.
Bollendorf also claimed that the district’s plans would expand the recreational space behind UES, giving the school a new playground and fencing for the soccer field.
“I would never put kids out of recreational space in favor of a bus yard,” Bollendorf said. “This being pushed back in the far lefthand corner behind that building.”
Bus Depot Could Go Elsewhere
The current bus yard limits Moorestown High School’s (MHS) capacity to expand classroom space, while creating a range of issues for the school and the district, Bollendorf says.
Walking from the MHS parking lot to the playing fields along Bridgeboro Road essentially forces people to walk through the current bus depot.
The bus lot is also unfenced, which has led to several catalytic convertor thefts that have left buses unable to pick up children thereafter.
But putting the bus yard at UES is “not a done deal,” Bollendorf said. The district is working with township officials to seek alternate locations and is waiting to hear back about four potential sites, according to the interim superintendent.
State Of The Referendum
Making that change, however, could mean delays on the bond referendum, which Bollendorf proposed in the spring. If the referendum were to take place on March 11, then school administrators only have a couple weeks to determine which of the proposed projects will be up for a vote on that date.
The district submitted 18 potential construction projects with a combined price of $110 million to the New Jersey Department of Education, which will determine how much funding the state would provide for each project.
Once that’s determined, Moorestown school officials will figure out which of those projects will appear on the referendum ballot — and the burden on local taxpayers if they pass.
That means certain projects could be scrapped. The referendum could also be split into multiple questions.
Bollendorf’s two-year tenure as interim superintendent ends in January, when Dr. Courtney McNeely will become permanent superintendent.
Moorestown typically rates as one of the state’s best public school systems. But concerns have loomed over growing class sizes, the atypical grade-level distribution among schools, and the district’s inability to offer free, full-day kindergarten.
The district currently has three “lower” elementary schools for students PreK through third grade. They feed into Moorestown Upper Elementary School (Grades 4-6) and then William Allen Middle School (Grades 7-8).
With a successful referendum, Moorestown could expand William Allen’s facilities enough for sixth-graders to attend. That would allow Moorestown Upper to create a true elementary-school environment, while making room for third-graders to attend the school, according to district administrators.
The district held a bond referendum in 2019, which 60 percent of voters rejected.
Find more info on the district’s referendum webpage.
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